Man Enters Guilty Plea to Possession of Child Pornography

BUFFALO, NY—Daniel Ronald Kowalski, 66, of Lackawanna, New York, entered a plea of guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott, to a felony charge of Possession of Child Pornography, Acting U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York announced today. Due to the defendant's prior conviction, possession of Child Pornography carries a mandatory minimum sentence of a term of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, a mandatory $100 special assessment and a term of supervised release of up to life.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that the defendant possessed 1422 images of child pornography on a home-built generic computer. The defendant received and traded these images of child pornography over the Internet using his America Online e-mail account.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Buffalo, New York, under the direction of Laurie Bennett, Special Agent In Charge.

Sentencing  will be scheduled by U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.